April 2000

A suspect in the infamous 1963 church bombing here that killed four girls says he’s innocent of that crime and has never harmed anyone black. But according to his son and FBI documents, Bobby Cherry admitted taking part in the 1957 violent assault on a civil rights leader trying to enroll his children in a Birmingham school. Those revelations could become evidence against the 70-year-old Bobby Cherry in his scheduled Dec. 4 murder trial.

In an interview with The Clarion-Ledger, Bobby Cherry confirmed he spent a few weeks at Bryce Hospital, a state mental institution in Tuscaloosa, but said it was not because he was having mental problems. “It was totally a mess,” he said. “The doctor didn’t talk to me but once or twice.”